1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a flat panel display, and more particularly, to a flat panel display in which column driver integrated circuits correspond in groups to a plurality of timing controllers, to hereby shorten the data transmission path while taking advantage of eliminating signal delay problems caused by a large-sized screen of the display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat panel display devices, represented by liquid crystal display devices or plasma display panels, have seen widespread use in computers or displays, as an alternative to a typical display device, a cathode ray tube.
As flat panel display devices are developed for a particular use of display device to have screens of large size, a high resolution as well as enhanced data transmission techniques are required.
The data transmission techniques include those for transmitting bits of data for colors R, G and B from an image source to a display panel so as to produce images onto a screen.
To match increased screen size of flat panel display devices, a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted with timing controllers and other PCBs are connected by a flexible printed board or wire, rather than a single PCB is used for mounting of chip and wiring for data transmission.
However, such a conventional configuration suffers drawbacks in that lots of wires are required for data transmission, and a large volume of electromagnetic waves are emitted during an operation of signal transmission through a flexible printed board or wire, thus causing data distortion. Further, data transmission path becomes longer in accordance with the large screen size and it results in signal delay.
The above-described problems limits flat panel display devices in increasing sizes of screens, and a need therefore continues to exist for driver circuits of enhanced data transmission path and preventing signal delay.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flat panel display in which data transmission system is improved so as to thereby allow the display to have a large-sized screen, while at the same time eliminating problems of electromagnetic interference(EMI) and signal delay accompanied with the operation of data transmission.
To accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a flat panel display including a display panel for displaying a predetermined image onto a screen by a scan signal and a column signal; scan driver means mounted one-to-one to a plurality of first connection members which are electrically and physically connected to one another in a vertical direction of the display panel, and which supplies the scan signal; column driver means mounted one-to-one to a plurality of second connection members which are electrically and physically connected to one another in a horizontal direction of the display panel, and which supplies the column signal; a plurality of timing controllers mounted onto a PCB electrically and physically connected to the second connection members, and which correspond to the second connection members in groups and supply relevant data and control signals; and a distributing unit for distributing data and control signal being supplied from a predetermined image supply source and transmitting the data and control signal to the timing controllers.
Preferably, the timing controllers are mounted to each of the PCBs.
The present invention provides a flat panel display including a display panel for displaying a predetermined image onto a screen by a scan signal and a column signal; scan driver means mounted one-to-one to a plurality of first connection members which are electrically and physically connected to one another in a vertical direction of the display panel, and which supplies the scan signal; column driver means mounted one-to-one to a plurality of second connection members which are electrically and physically connected to one another in a horizontal direction of the display panel, and which supplies the column signal; a master timing controller having a distributor mounted onto a PCB electrically and physically connected to a portion of the second connection members which are clustered into plural groups including a first group, and which distributes into groups data and control signals being supplied from a predetermined image supply source, a signal processing unit for determining a timing format for a signal for the first group and generating and outputting a control signal corresponding to the determined timing format, and a signal transmitting unit for outputting signals for other groups excluding those for the first group output from the distributor; and one or more sub-timing controllers mounted onto each of PCBs electrically and physically connected to the second connection members, and which receive signals transmitted from the master timing controller, determine timing formats for the received signals, and generating and outputting control signals.
Preferably, the master timing controller and the sub-timing controller are mounted onto PCBs.
An advantage of the flat panel display according to the present invention is that the data transmitted from a predetermined image supply source is divided, and the data with the determined timing format is transmitted to the column driver IC, thereby shortening the transmission path, while at the same time eliminating the problems of signal delay or EMI.